Beer Guide 2014: Growl Local

Oregon makes great beer… and containers.

This 64-ounce wide-mouth steel bottle from Bend’s
HydroFlask is a vacuum-insulated jug that can keep your beer carbonated,
fresh and cold for a full 24 hours. Double-walled construction provides
lightweight insulation and prevents condensation. Because it’s steel,
it won’t shatter if you drunkenly drop it. The 2-inch mouth allows for
easy pouring—both in and out.

These Portland-made ceramic growlers weigh in at a hefty 4
pounds—empty. With all that insulation, the maker claims they’ll keep
beer cool for four days or more. The clay shatters like heavy glass, but
the handmade slip-cast ceramics are as handsome as jugs get. They’re
available in black, gray, white or blue and, now, in a 32-ounce
growlette size.

Now you can purchase your very own personal keg from this
Bend company. This stainless-steel growler comes with a special lid
secured by a double-bail locking system. There’s an optional add-on “keg
cap” ($45) that turns your growler into a keg with a CO2 charge to keep
your beer fresher longer. It dispenses like a keg with a push of a
button—no pumping required.

If Portland Growler Co.’s ceramic jug is the vintage Volvo
of local growlers this is the Audi A4. “The world’s first
stainless-steel modular growler system” is a shiny contraption capped
with a CO2 injection system ($70) designed to hold perfect beer pressure
and keep your beverage carbonated and crisp if you recharge after
pours. The hydrodynamic stainless-steel growler was created by the
Zythos Project in the Irvington neighborhood and is sold at Let’s Brew,
Kitchen Kaboodle, Streetcar Bistro & Taproom, certain McMenamins
locations and elsewhere.